The event is to celebrate the last girder being put into place as part of the building's erection. The practice of celebrating topping off comes from ancient Scandinavian rites of placing a tree on top of a new building, and a tree or branch is usually placed with the final beam as part of the ceremony.

The IBM facility will create a total of 800 new jobs for the Baton Rouge area and provide software development and maintenance for clients in the U. S. The final mixed-use development will include an eight-story tall office building, 11-story residential tower, as well as 95 apartments and 9 townhouses. Work is scheduled to be complete in early 2015.

The topping-off ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. at the construction site on North Street.